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No change in rejection of Yasukuni shrine lawsuit

A Japanese high court yesterday upheld a decision to reject a lawsuit aimed at stopping Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from visiting a war memorial. The visits are opposed by China and other countries.

The decision upheld a lower court decision against the suit, an official at the Osaka High Court said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear whether the plaintiffs would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The lawsuit was filed by 339 plaintiffs against the visits to Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including executed World War II war criminals.

The plaintiffs argued that the visits violated the separation of religion and state. China, South Korea and other countries say the visits give official sanction to Japan's past imperialist ambitions.

The court official refused to offer details of the ruling. But Kyodo News reported that the court said "the rights and benefits the plaintiffs are contesting are vague in concept, and the court cannot find them something that should be protected by law."

The judge did not touch on the constitutionality of Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni, Kyodo said.

The lawsuit is one of several working their way through the justice system aimed at preventing Koizumi from making another visit to Yasukuni. He has visited the shrine four times since taking office in 2001. He has argued that he worships at Yasukuni because of personal beliefs, but he signs the guest book as prime minister.

The shrine honors some 2.5 million Japanese who died in wars starting in the 1860s, but also enshrines men executed for their role in Japan's aggressive policies, such as wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo.

In the earlier decision on the case in February last year, the Osaka District Court refused to rule on the constitutionality of the trip, saying the plaintiffs hadn't suffered any emotional turmoil.
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